A TREASURED ISLAND

There was never meant to be a RETURN TO MONKEY ISLAND – but Ron Gilbert is making the trip.

- Will Freeman

Ron Gilbert never really said he wouldn’t ever make another Monkey Island. The series’ creator certainly came close. In 2013 he penned a now infamous blog post asserting that he couldn’t return to the point-and-click series unless a list of specific circumstances were met. In fact, so thorough was the list that it effectively put an end to hopes of another Gilbert-led adventure with Guybrush Threepwood. And yet fans still never quite gave up hoping.

And why would they? The Monkey Island games are famed for being subversive and silly. The series has something far brighter than a glint in its eye, and exudes an excited sense of mischief throughout. Through their jokes and puzzles, each Monkey Island game has delighted in toying with expectations. All that considered, many hoped that Gilbert was simply setting us up for another delightful punchline.

It might not quite have been his plan, but almost a decade on, that punchline has come. A brand-new Monkey Island led by stalwarts of the original’s team is due on PC later this very year.

Focused development of the new game started around two years ago, but the story of Monkey Island’s rebirth began considerably earlier, when Gilbert struck up a conversation with publisher Devolver Digital’s co-founding partner Nigel Lowrie at a PAX. Lowrie dared to suggest that Gilbert could still make another Monkey Island. And having inroads with Disney, he was in a better position than most to help Gilbert work with the current owners of Lucasfilm Games, and thus Guybrush’s world.

MONKEY BUSINESS